Prerequisites

Like almost everything in weightlifting, the Snatch can be a complicated movement and as such, its not just something you can jump straight into without at least some experience with a barbell and general weight training.

While I could talk all day about everything that various coaches and literature say you must be able to do or have in order to snatch well, I’m going to pull from my own experience and try keep it really simple, or at least as simple as the snatch allows.

For me there are 3 prerequisites that a weightlifter must have that will enable them to snatch safely and efficiently:

The CORRECT Snatch Grip
An adequate Overhead Squat (Or in the case of this article, a good overhead position.)
Thumbs to hook grip

I’m going to cover all of these as we go through this article, so that when I cover the start position and first pull in the next two articles, you all have the prerequisite knowledge to be able to carry out what I talk about safely.

Snatch Grip

So, having the correct snatch grip seems obvious but it is unreal how often I get weightlifters and crossfitters come to me with a decent background and knowledge in the Olympic lifts, but who have the wrong grip for them in the Snatch.

Most of the time this happens its usually that the hands are too narrow, which probably explains why you see so many crossfit athletes utilising early arm bend out of necessity to make contact at the right spot. I’ll be covering contact in a later article, but just know that if your Snatch grip isn’t right you’re probably going to smash the bar into your hips, or your pubic bone… and both hurt like a bitch.

So, how do you find the right grip?

Theres loads of ways I’ve see coaches showing their athletes how to find the correct grip for their Snatch, whether its measuring limb lengths, pinching the bar in the crease of the hip and reaching wide with your hands, or creating 90 degree angles like Torokhity…

Personally, I prefer to take a more practical approach.

Take the bar with what you think would be your Snatch grip, stand up tall with a big chest and depressed shoulder blades…

Is the bar sitting at the ‘meaty area’ above your pubic bone and below your hip bone?
…If it is…
Could you maintain posture and bounce the bar off the area the bar is sitting.
…If the answer to both those questions is yes…
Check that the bar clears your head… it should.

If you’ve cleared all those questions then that is probably a good place to start.

It’s fairly self explanatory, but here’s a video of the whole process.

While a rough Snatch grip can be found pretty easily, its a very individual thing dependant on limb lengths, so feel free to experiment as you progress along your weightlifting career. As long as you’re meeting those three requirements with your grip width, it then becomes about whats most comfortable and efficient for you.

As we’re about to head into the Overhead Squat after this, it seems apt to give you a quick note on the snatch grip and what you’ll experience with the bar overhead dependant on your particular grip width.

While I feel this is a fairly bulletproof and standardised way to find the correct grip, some people will be noticeably wider, or narrower than others dependant on proportions.

If your grip is wider you’ll naturally have less distance to move the bar (relatively) so you’ll notice a quicker turnover, they’ll also be more stress on the wrists, it’ll be harder to grip and you’ll have reduced stability compared to a narrower grip on the spectrum.

If your a little narrower, you’ll generally be the exact opposite with more distance to travel, a slower turnover, but with an easier grip, more stability and less wrist stress.

One last thing I’ve noticed is that athletes narrower on the spectrum generally miss forwards if they miss, and athletes wider on the spectrum generally miss backwards with all else being equal. Its probably something to do with distance, turnover speed and the position your shoulders end up in over anything else but it’s just something to keep in mind if you’re unsure of your grip and your noticing a pattern of misses.

Putting the Bar Overhead

So first thing is, I’m not going to go fully into the Overhead Squat. There is a lot to cover and I’m planning to do a Squat Technique Series covering the back, front and overhead squat to go with this.

Once i’ve done that, I’ll link it at the bottom of this page…

On that note, I’m going to take it as read that you have some experience and a proficient back squat, if you do then the overhead squat should come fairly quickly so this section will be more about the position of the shoulders with the bar over head.

Once again I like to be practical with this approach and while most of your overhead position for the snatch will be determined by your grip width there are a few things you need to look out for.

The easiest way to feel where the bar should be is to pop the barbell on your back keeping your hands in your snatch grip while squeezing the upper inside edges of your shoulder blades up and inward. Once you’ve done that, press the bar upwards and the bar should finish somewhere between the crown of the skull and the base of the neck.

While we are squeezing the shoulder blades upward and inward we are not looking for a shrug, just a forceful contraction. Once the bar is overhead, this position will pin the shoulder blades against the ribs to provide a solid base, create room in the shoulder while also allowing the muscles of the upper back to work to their maximal capabilities to stabilise and hold the bar overhead.

In the video are some demonstrations of how firstly to contract the shoulder blades and secondly, how to press the bar overhead.

If you’re struggling in terms of scapula control, 3 sets of 10 of the first movement where all we’re looking for is a forceful contraction of the shoulder blades upwards and inwards should help.

While the wrists need to be slightly extended once the bar is overhead, its important not to have the wrists fully extended. A fully extended wrist will create a lot of stress on the joint and while it might be ok with an empty bar, once you start loading up and catching Snatches you need to reduce the strain on the wrists.

The best place for the barbell in the hand is positioned behind the midline of the forearm with the wrist slightly extended. A lot of lifters will do this naturally, but if you’re struggling with it, a cue that I like is to imagine your hand like the cradle of a squat rack… then close your hands.

Lastly, whether you hold your hook grip overhead or not will rely on a number of things but will mostly be automatic, so don’t worry about it because that sort of detail will become apparent later.

Speaking of Hook Grip…

The Hook Grip

I’ll keep it short and sweet, but last thing you need to know about before you start to snatch is the hook grip.

The hook grip is an overhand (pronated) grip where the thumb is wrapped around the bar then trapped and pulled round by the index and middle fingers, like the picture shown below.

Its not pleasant until you get used to it, but its a necessity to keep the bar in the hands during the contact and turnover of both the snatch and the clean while also allowing the arms to relax more allowing for long loose arms in the pull (which is important and i’ll talk about it in later articles.)

Believe it or not and although its absolutely standard practice, I have had pushback before on using the hook grip even after I’ve explained why.

What you’ll find in people that refuse to use the hook grip however is lots of early arm bend due to the fact the hands can grip more forcefully with the arm in a bent position. This alone mutes the amount of force you can transfer to the bar killing the ability to generate maximum power if they were even able to get up to a weight that allowed them to snatch something relatively heavy.

Finally, and this will depend on hand size… I’m a man with bigger hands and went through a weird phase of hook gripping with my ring finger too. I’d probably still get away with it in the clean, or if I released my hook grip after I turned over in the snatch, but as I don’t release my hook grip I found gripping with 3 fingers had an effect on my overhead position through limiting wrist extension and putting the bar in a less than optimal place overhead creating instability.

That last bit is just anecdotal, but the moral of the story is to not grip to tight. As long as the bar is secure, you’re gripping tight enough.

See you for the next article in the series where we cover the start position… and possibly the first pull.